Children of the Water: Daughter of the Sea
by lyssalightwing
Summary: Astrid, second daughter of the King of Mora, has always been strange. Her grandmother would tell her an old fable about fae blood in their line, though she was never sure if it was true. However, when her family makes a trip to Camelot for a festival and she meets a certain young warlock, her abilities - and destiny - begin to unfold before her eyes. R&R if you please.


'_We are the children of the sea'_, Grandmother would say.

Her hands were soft and wrinkled on mine as a child as she guided my needlework. I remember the storm screaming outside, but I never felt afraid. Mora was an island nation and we had many storms, especially in the winter. Some snow and rain blew in through the open casement, gracing my face. It made me smile.

'_What do you mean, Grandmother?'_ I remember asking her. She smiled down at me with my eyes, deep and dark like the sea depths. She raised a hand and pointed to the black sky outside, a square of dark punctuated by lightning high on the wall.

'_We of Mora have traces of blood of the fae in our line, the royal house most of all, little princess.'_ I remember wrinkling my nose. I didn't want to be a princess.

'_The sea is ever changing, and yet dictated by the tide. She gives life and administers death where she sees fits. Today, she is in a rage. But there are days where she is as smooth as glass. And yet...' _ Grandmother hefted me onto her lap and gave me a smile.

'_There is always movement underneath. Just because it cannot be seen on the surface does not mean it is not there, my little Asta.' _My name was Astrid, but only mother and grandmother called me Asta. Astrid meant beautiful goddess, but the name was too large for a five-year old. I smiled and twined my little fingers in her hair, and turned to watch the storm. The lightning clapped and thunder sounded and I smiled, sitting in the dark room lit only by a fire in the soot-blackened bowels of the fire place.

'_They say that long ago, your great great great great grandfather was walking the beach after a storm. His ship has crashed on the coast and he was looking for survivors. As he walked, a beautiful young woman rose from the sea, clad only in a string of pearls and precious stones around her neck, scavenged from the shipwreck. She said to him that in exchange for the love and fealty of his people, she would give him a home on her island and sons.' _ I settled back into my grandmother's breast, listening to her hypnotic voice and the pounding of the rain on the stone walls. Likely my sisters and brothers would all be cowering under their sheets right now, praying for the storm to pass. But it called me. I wanted to be out in it, feeling the rain and slush and snow and salt spray on my skin.

He said to her "_Fair maiden, I have no people and no wealth and no title of my own." She smiled and waved her hand and a great wooden chest rose from the sea and stopped at his feet. Inside were gems and gold coins, riches enough to build a strong kingdom on this island. She said 'You will. But you must promise me that you will keep your line strong, and once in a generation I must have one of your daughters to call my own. She will join me in the depths.' He readily agreed, and coupled there on the beach. In a few months time, the king had many sons and daughters to call his own. His kingdom flourished. His people were happy. But his one daughter, the youngest, felt a call to the sea that could not be ignored. He loved his daughter very much and when he realized that she would be taken by the sea nymph; he protested and locked her in a high tower, far from the sea.'_

I had seen the tower before – it was a tall, majestic ruin that had crashed into the ocean long before I was born. Only a few stones had been left behind, enough to make the height magnificent and startling.

'_When the sea nymph discovered she had been slighted, she fell into a black rage. For many days and nights, storms pounded against the coast of Mora, slowly withering it away. People grew hungry, for none could leave their homes for fear of the storm. Homes were flooded and people drowned. The daughter went to her father the king and said to him "Father, I must go. These are my people and they hunger and starve and waste away and I will not see them hurt so." The king rejected her, but his daughter snuck down one night to the sea and offered herself to the nymph who took her into the depths, never again to be seen. But for her kind heart, the sea calmed and the waves died down and once again the kingdom flourished. But there are still times where the nymph is reminded of the selfishness of that old king, the one who tried to break his promise, and her rages grows anew.'_

I looked up inquisitively at my grandmother.

'_Is that why we have storms, grandmother?' _She smiled down at me and nodded.

'_Yes my little Asta. The time has come again for the nymph to claim a daughter. I had thought it would be my mother, but I am afraid…' _She trailed off and I looked up at her, tugging on her hair. Her hands went limp.

'_Grandmother?' _There was a clap of thunder and a spray of water from the window and the fire went out.


End file.
